Come clean on charges and watch pension investments rise, says new union report

Unions from around the globe are joining forces with their pension trustees to put pressure on asset managers and regulators to come clean over the hidden costs of charges to pensions schemes, says UNISON today (Thursday). Employees around the world are being left in the dark over the cost of their pensions, according to a new report from the Global Unions Committee on Workers’ Capital, part of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC). The report says because so few schemes clearly set out their charges, it’s hard for employees to find out how much of their retirement savings are being paid out to asset managers. The lack of clarity means workers don’t know whether they’re getting value for money or how the investments that will fund their retirement are performing. The solution, say unions representing workers in the UK, the Netherlands, the USA and Australia – the four countries that hold over three-quarters of the world’s pension investments – is for schemes to start using new transparency templates. In the Netherlands, pension charges have to be clearly set out for all to see, says the report, a move which has seen investment costs fall by more than a third since compulsory reporting was introduced three years ago. In the UK, defined contribution schemes have to set out their charges, but there’s no similar obligation on the country’s 6,000 defined benefit schemes, says UNISON. It’s also becoming easier to distinguish between pension costs an...
Source: UNISON meat hygiene - Category: Food Science Authors: Tags: Press release colin meech pensions Source Type: news